Wanda Maximoff (Earth-616)
Real Name: Wanda Maximoff Nickname: None known Former Aliases: Wanda Frank, Wanda Magnus, Ana Maximoff Other Current Aliases: Gypsy Witch Status Occupation: Adventurer, former Terrorist Legal Status: Former citizen of Transia, now naturalized citizen of the United States with no criminal record Identity: Public Marital Status: Estranged Group Affiliation: Avengers, Force Works, Queen's Vengeance, Secret Defenders, Lady Liberators, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Base of Operations: Mobile; formerly The Works; Avengers Compound, California; Avengers Mansion, New York Origin Place of Birth: Wundagore Mountain, Transia Known Relatives: Pietro (Quicksilver, fraternal twin brother), Magnus (Magneto, father), Magda (mother, deceased), Anya (half-sister, deceased), Lorna Dane (Polaris, half-sister), Vision (estranged husband, deceased), Django Maximoff (foster father, deceased), Marya Maximoff (foster mother, deceased), Crystal (sister-in-law), Luna (niece), Billy & Tommy (sons) First Appearance: ''X-Men'' (Vol. 1) #4, March 1964 History Born at the Wundagore base of the High Evolutionary, Wanda and her twin brother Pietro were eventually placed in the care of a Gypsy couple named Django and Marya Maximoff from whom they were separated as teens when their encampment was attacked. They were later recruited into Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and, as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, they fought the X-Men but eventually abandoned their terrorist activities to join the Avengers; although she became more adept in her power's use, Wanda did not realize that she was tapping into genuine magic. It was believed that the Scarlet Witch would have been an ordinary energy manipulator or perhaps simply able to cause bad luck if not due to Chthon's attempt to use her as a pawn. After serving with her brother as part of Magneto's Brotherhood, they joined the Avengers while Magneto was a prisoner of the Stranger. Wanda fell in love with the synthezoid Vision. The Scarlet Witch eventually married her teammate, the android Vision, not realizing that they were manipulated by Immortus, who sought to prevent Wanda from having a child (Wanda was actually a key figure, or nexus being, to her reality, and her children would have power to shake the foundations of the universe). Wanda eventually drew on magic energy to give birth to twin sons, William and Thomas, but this energy was eventually revealed to have come from the demon Mephisto, who reabsorbed them, effectively ending their existence. Wanda had also reanimated her deceased mentor, Agatha Harkness, through whom she cast a spell to make her forget her children in order to ease her pain. Though Wanda later recalled her loss, she suppressed this memory over the long term. After his reformation, The Vision and Wanda have not had the closeness they once did. Wanda was also in love with Wonder Man. She was deeply saddened by his death on the first mission of Force Works. After rejoining the Avengers, she used her increased powers to resurrect him, although his ionic energy likely made him able to be restored. For some time, Wonder Man was mostly a cloud of ionic energy that Wanda had to summon. While a member of Force Works, Wanda used a 'hex mainframe' computer designed by Iron Man. Through her powers and the computer's calculations, they could proactively determine where the team was most needed rather than react to an alarm or breaking news. Although Wanda was appointed team leader, she often clashed with Stark overriding her orders. Training with Agatha Harkness increased Wanda's control of her 'chaos magic.' Even after Agatha died her astral form continued to assist Wanda. However it seems that at least some of this training may have been an illusion made by Wanda herself. An unintentional remark by Wasp about her lost children apparently drove Wanda over the edge. Her various manipulations caused a number of her Avengers teammates to be killed. Others were injured or affected by various odd outbursts and incidents. The remaining Avengers gathered including a number of reservists. However, it appears some of them were more illusions created by Wanda. Doctor Strange appeared sensing abuse of magic and angry that he had not been notified of Wanda's recent problems. The Scarlet Witch seemingly gained powerful reality-altering abilities from "chaos magic"; however, this proved to be an uncontrolled aspect of her mutant power and created a great mental strain on her. When vague memories of her children resurfaced, she suffered a nervous breakdown and lashed out with her new power, subjecting the Avengers to a savage assault and apparently killing Agatha Harkness and some of her teammates. Strange was forced to use the Eye of Agamatto on Wanda, which apparently showed her a memory so horrible she went into a catatonic state. Magneto suddenly appeared to collect his daughter, and brought her to Genosha so Professor X could help her. Even while catatonic Wanda continued to warp reality. Both Strange and Xavier had limited success trying to reason with her in that state. Likewise, the other heroes also disagree on if she has become too dangerous. This eventually leads to the House of M. It was revealed that her brother Quicksilver had coaxed Wanda into altering reality. She also was apparently responsible for the Magneto impostor. Angry at what had happened, Wanda blamed herself and Magneto. With the words "No more mutants", the world was again caught up in a white flash... Many mutants found themselves powerless. People around the world know that something is different, but only a few remember the House of M. Wanda herself is listed among the missing, unable to be detected by Cerebra. A gypsy woman with a scarlet robe was seen traveling in Europe... Characteristics Height: 5' 7" Weight: 132 lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: Auburn Unusual Features: None Powers Known powers: Initially, the Scarlet Witch had the ability to manipulate probability via her "hexes" (often manifesting physically as "hex spheres" or "hex bolts"). Chaos Magic Reality Warping: The Scarlet Witch is a powerful reality warper. She has created illusions that can affect all five senses, has caused improbable events to occur without needing to cast a hex. This aspect of her power is not under her conscious control, and continues even after Dr. Strange shut down her mind. There doesn't seem to be any limits to her powers as she was easily able to alter the entire 616 reality to create the House of M, and is also altering reality on a universal scale without even realizing it! The source of Wanda's reality manipulation powers is due to the fact that her mutation allows her to tap into magic. This was confirmed in Avengers Disassembled by Dr Strange, and by Dark Beast in Excalibur, who said that magic is just another way of manipulating forces on a quantum level. Her probability-manipulating hexes have been redefined as the conscious manifestation of this subconscious power. *'Hex Bolts': The Scarlet Witch possesses the mutant power of affecting probability fields. By a combination of gestures and mental concentration, she creates a hex-sphere, a finite pocket of reality-disrupting quasi-psionic force, which upon reaching its intended target, causes disturbance in the molecular-level probability field surrounding the target. Thus, unlikely phenomena will occur. Among the many phenomena she is able to cause are: the sudden melting of gun barrels, the spontaneous combustion of any flammable object, the rapid rust or decay of various organic and inorganic materials, the poltergeist-like deflection of an object in flight, the sudden evacuation of air from a given volume, the disruption of energy transmissions and fields, and so on. These phenomena occur practically instantaneously after the completion of her hex. Limitations: Her range of hex-casting is limited by her line of sight. (She cannot watch a live television broadcast and cause a hex-phenomenon to occur at its point of origin.) Scarlet Witch's hex-casting ability still has a 20% unreliability factor. The reliability factor of her hex-casting ability is also limited by her physical condition: when well rested, in good health, and mentally and emotionally alert, Scarlet Witch can cast numerous hex-spheres in rapid succession and attain desirable results for almost an hour. Her subconcious mind controls her reality warping powers, it is only unconcious can she have any degree of control of said powers. Contrary to certain accounts, the Scarlet Witch cannot levitate, shoot magical energy concussive blasts, or transmute elements. Currently Wanda seems to have removed her powers. Known Abilities Wanda was trained by Agatha Harkness in witchcraft. She also specialized in the use of 'Chaos Magic' although its existence has been disputed. Her sorcerous training has not given her a set of powers separate from her mutant abilities, but only honed her control over her existing abilities. She has, however, a special affinity for the natural elements and materials that true witches utilize in their spells: the four alchemical elements, wood, organic substances, etc. Strength Level: The Scarlet Witch possesses the normal human strength of a woman of her age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise. Miscellaneous Equipment: None known. Transportation: Formerly Avengers Quinjet. Weapons: None known. Notes * No special notes. Trivia * List of Appearances 'As a Villain' *Uncanny X-Men #4, first appearance *Uncanny X-Men #5 *Uncanny X-Men #6 *Uncanny X-Men #7 *Uncanny X-Men #11, leave Brotherhood of Evil Mutants *Avengers #49, duped by Magneto into rejoining Brotherhood *Uncanny X-Men #43 *Uncanny X-Men #44 *Uncanny X-Men #45 *Avengers #53, End of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants 'Post Heroes Return:' *The Avengers: The Morgan Conquest **The Avengers (Vol. 3) #1 **The Avengers (Vol. 3) #1 **The Avengers (Vol. 3) #1 *Thunderbolts #11 *Thunderbolts #12 *Avengers (Vol. 3) #4 *Quicksilver #4 *Quicksilver #5 *Quicksilver #6 *Captain America (Vol. 3) #5 *Captain America (Vol. 3) #6 *Captain America (Vol. 3) #7 *The Mighty Thor (Vol. 2) #1 *The Mighty Thor (Vol. 2) #2 *Avengers (Vol. 3) #5 Recommended Readings * House of M See Also * Character Gallery Scarlet Witch * Scarlet Witch (Ultimate) Related Articles * Avengers * Quicksilver * Magneto (Magnus) * Vision (Victor Shade) * Wonder Man External Links * References * ---- Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Public Identity Category:Auburn Hair Category:Blue Eyes Category:Estranged Characters Category:Mutant Characters Category:Transian Category:Secret Defenders members Category:Avengers members Category:Brotherhood members Category:Silver Age Category:Twins Category:Copy Edit